Month: March 2017

Connie, I think this is one of the biggest issues. Without having your spouse on board, it’s really difficult to be successful with Leon’s program. My husband wasn’t quite on board until I made it clear that I needed to feel secure in our future before I was comfortable starting a family. He REALLY wants children, so I think that made him really pay attention. I still have the feeling that if I decided to give up on this he would go along with whatever I wanted, so I still have some self-imposed pressure to stay motivated. I think what Leon would recommend in terms of getting a spouse on board, especially if you’ve been doing all the budgeting, is to sit down with your spouse and really go over the budget together. Before we started this plan, my husband paid all the bills and I had no clue what was in our checking account at any given time. I had a vague idea of what we made, but I had no clue what was coming in or going out each month. We’ve only been married for 7 months and just merged our bank accounts a few months before starting Dave’s program. After I started doing a budget, I realized quickly where we were spending too much money and we cut back drastically… and it didn’t even hurt that much! We also decided to move to a less expensive rental unit so that we could pay off the debt quicker, save a downpayment for a house, and buy something on solid financial ground. Maybe if your spouse sees the income vs. the outflow every month, that will be the start to wake them up! Then, you can figure out how long it’ll take to get out of debt Leon’s way (rice and beans) or your way…. THAT was a big motivator for me!! 4+ years our way vs. 2 years Dave’s way. Once you have a timeline it just makes things more complete. Best of luck!!